Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon’s Former Country Retreat Lists for £4M
This 15th-century property is not your average estate: it’s seen royals, society parties, and enough gossip to paper a bathroom.
Location: Old House, Staplefield, West Sussex, England
Price: £3,950,000
Year Built: 1481
Footprint: 4,195 square feet (6 beds, 4.5 baths)
Lot Size: 5.52 acres
From the Agent: "For the first time in its history, the Old House in Staplefield, West Sussex, the former country retreat of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl Snowdon and, during their marriage, HRH Princess Margaret, is being publicly offered for sale for £3.95 million.
Dating back to 1481 and set within 5.52 acres of gardens and grounds, the Old House has been shaped and expanded over more than five centuries. Today, the house retains elements from several periods of its history, including Tudor beams and fireplaces, Georgian paneling and bay windows, alongside later alterations made by the current owners over the last 20 years.
Situated on the historic Nymans estate, the Old House was part of the world created by the German-born financier and horticultural enthusiast Ludwig Messel, who transformed Nymans into a renowned Arts and Crafts landscape after acquiring it in 1890. In 1958, Ludwig’s grandson, the celebrated stage designer Oliver Messel, gifted the Old House to his nephew Earl Snowdon shortly before his marriage to Princess Margaret in 1960.
At the time, the house was charming but relatively neglected, with a crumbling roof and no electricity or toilet. Over the following decades, Snowdon transformed the house and grounds into a country retreat away from the glare of public life.
By the mid-1960s, weekends at the Old House drew a remarkable cross section of postwar cultural figures. Guests over the years included Peter Sellers, Sir John Mills, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Bianca Jagger, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Kenneth Tynan, Issey Miyake, and Edna O'Brien, along with members of the royal family.
Traces of Snowdon’s imagination and playful eye for design remain throughout the property, including the bow windows he introduced to the Georgian wing and the raised gallery stage level above the open kitchen. Upstairs, one bathroom survives largely as Snowdon left it, its walls lined with original newspaper cuttings chronicling royal scandals, society intrigue, and major events from the early twentieth century, interspersed with family photographs and personal mementos.
Elsewhere, his former photographic darkroom survives as a library, while hidden within the grounds is a whimsical folly incorporating a balcony salvaged from Ascot Racecourse’s Royal Box during refurbishment works in the 1960s. The lake was one of Snowdon’s most ambitious projects and became one of the defining features of the estate.
The entrance hall has been opened up to reveal original Tudor windows, exposed timbers, and a gallery above, while the principal rooms include a double reception room overlooking the gardens and a paneled Georgian sitting room. The family kitchen, centered around an Aga cooker, opens directly onto terraces with views across the grounds and Snowdon’s lake beyond.
The principal house has six bedrooms, with additional guest accommodation in a separate pool house. Other structures include a garden office, library, tractor shed, stores, and a traditional vardo. Across the grounds are formal gardens, water features, a rill running toward the lake, bridges, stepping stones, and an island pavilion.
Despite its extraordinary provenance, the Old House has never previously been publicly marketed. Lord Snowdon sold the property privately in 2003 and the current owners acquired it off-market in 2005. More than two decades later, this represents the first opportunity for the wider market to acquire one of the U.K.’s most significant private homes."
The Old House dates back to 1481, with more than 545 years of additions and alterations. German-born financier Ludwig Messel acquired the Nymans estate in 1890. In 1958, Ludwig’s grandson, stage designer Oliver Messel, gave the Old House to his nephew Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl Snowdon, shortly before his marriage to Princess Margaret. Snowdon already knew the property well, having stayed and picnicked there as a child with his sister; he later remembered it as a place of "Marie Antoinette-like make-believe."
Photo by John Senior
Photo by John Senior
Behind the oak front door, the entrance hall has original Tudor windows, fireplaces, and exposed timbers. Concealed skylights bring additional natural light into the space.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
The original Tudor details are accompanied by Georgian additions and updates made by the current owners over the last 20 years.
Photo by Ben Wright
On the ground floor, the kitchen and dining room sit between the main living room and a separate reception room, with a pantry and utility room tucked alongside.
Photo by Ben Wright
On the ground floor, the kitchen and dining room sit between the main living room and a separate reception room, with a pantry and utility room tucked alongside.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
One of Snowdon’s changes to the house was opening up the kitchen and adding a raised gallery level above. The room opens directly onto terraces with views toward the lake.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
An upstairs bathroom remains much as Snowdon left it. The walls are covered in newspaper clippings detailing royal scandals, society gossip, and other major news events—all interspersed with family photographs and personal mementos.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
The main living spaces include a double reception room overlooking the gardens and a paneled Georgian sitting room. The bow windows were added by Snowdon, inspired by those on Charles Street in Brighton, England.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
Of the main house’s six bedrooms, four are on the first floor, along with three bathrooms and a dressing room.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
Two additional bedrooms and another bathroom are located on the second floor.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
By the mid-1960s, weekends at the Old House had become part of Britain’s society circuit. The realtor notes that guests ranging from actors and supermodels to aristocrats and royalty "would travel down from London in Aston Martins and Bentleys for weekends of cocktails, conversation and house parties." That lore later helped inspire an episode of Netflix’s The Crown.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by John Senior
A separate, roughly 800-square-foot pool house has two bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, a living room, and its own kitchen.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
A separate roughly 806-square-foot Pool House has two bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, a living room, and its own kitchen.
Photo by Ben Wright
The Old House sits on 5.52 acres of gardens and grounds that include formal planting, water features, and a series of standalone structures.
Photo by Ben Wright
A folly incorporates a balcony salvaged from Ascot Racecourse’s Royal Box during renovations in the 1960s.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
The main house measures approximately 4,195 square feet, and the entire property offers 5,750 square feet of livable space.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
Additionally, the grounds are dotted with a collection of smaller structures, including an outbuilding with a library converted from Snowdon’s former darkroom, a freestanding 156-square-foot study, a garden office, a tractor shed, a traditional vardo, and what the floor plan identifies as "The Dolls’ House."
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by Ben Wright
The lake was one of Snowdon’s crowning additions to the property. He reportedly expected the excavation to take a single weekend, but the heavy Sussex clay turned it into a winter-long undertaking involving a dozen workers. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother later formally opened the stepping stones across the lake in a ceremony presided over by the Bishop of Horsham.
Photo by Ben Wright
Photo by John Senior
Old House in Staplefield, West Sussex, England, is currently listed for £3,950,000 by Theo James-Wright at Blue Book Agency.
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